Fuel cells in mobiles far away

Editor: Jesper Olsson

Last week the Japanese NTT Docomo launched its new fuel cell. The mobile market is waiting for the fuel cells to become smaller and more effective to fit the mobile phones but it seems that the mobile makers will have to wait a little longer.

The new fuel cell from NTT Docomo is based on hydrogen fuel instead of methanole or ethanole that is used in the most common fuel cells. This new fuel cell provides enough power to charge a mobile phone three times before a refill of fuel is needed. However this product is yet only at the prototype stage.
"It is not a technology question, it is more like a supply-chain issue at the moment," Tapani Ryhanen, head of strategic research at Nokia Research Center, said at a seminar celebrating the center's 20th anniversary.
"A few years you would still need to wait," he said, adding that the industry had to sort out how to supply the fuel to consumers.